9/30: #6 Emory sweeps #14 Chicago

Less hectic today but great matchups.

Because there are meaningful matches today, I’ll post my top 10 on Monday.

UAA
• #6 Emory 3, #14 Chicago 0 EU outhit UC .333 to .084.
• #1 Washington-St. Louis 3, Case Western Reserve 0 WUSTL had 50 kills.

Top 25 upset watch
#10 Puget Sound 3, #17 Colorado College 1
#21 Juniata 3, Merchant Marine 0

-Ricky Nelson

9/29: Maranatha suffers first loss despite DeLozier’s 41 kills, 5-setters abundant

Yet another busy Saturday.

Perspective on Maranatha outside Torey DeLozier’s 41 kills:
• 20th-highest total in D-III history
• Highest D-III total since 2003 (when there was 30-point scoring)

Yesterday Minnesota Morris libero Kaylie Clark had 53 digs in five sets against St. Scholastica. Some perspective:
• 12th-highest total in D-III history
• Highest Central Region total since 1994 [DeLozier had 41 kills in four sets against Moody Bible in 2011 and 45 kills in five sets against Lincoln Christian in 2010, but those marks were not included in the 2012 NCAA Division III record book]

UW-Whitewater invite
#11 Elmhurst, #12 UW-Whitewater, #15 Wartburg, Millikin, Cornell, UW Oshkosh
#15 Wartburg def. #12 UW-Whitewater 3-2; #11 Elmhurst def. UW Oshkosh 3-2; Millikin def. Cornell 3-1; UW Oshkosh def. #15 Wartburg 3-2; #12 UW-Whitewater def. Millikin 3-2; #11 Elmhurst def. Cornell 3-0.

St. Norbert tourney
#21 Carthage, UW-River Falls, St. Norbert, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Superior, Finlandia
UW-Superior def. St. Norbert 3-2; #21 Carthage def. UW-River Falls 3-1; UW-Eau Claire def. UW-Superior 3-0; St. Norbert def. UW-Eau Claire 3-0; UW-River Falls def. Finlandia 3-0; #21 Carthage def. Finlandia 3-0.

Concordia Chicago tri
Augustana, Edgewood, Concordia Chicago
Edgewood def. Augustana 3-0; Augustana def. Concordia Chicago 3-1.

Grinnell tri
Simpson, Grinnell, Knox
Simpson def. Grinnell 3-2; Simpson def. Knox 3-0.

Minnesota Morris tri
Minnesota Morris, Northland, Dakota State
Minnesota Morris def. Dakota State 3-1; Dakota State def. Northland 3-0.

Rose-Hulman tri
Principia, Rose-Hulman, Transylvania
Transylvania def. Principia 3-0; Rose-Hulman def. Principia 3-1.

MIAC
• #7 St. Thomas 3, St. Catherine 1 UST’s Kelly Foley went 18-4-34.
• Saint Benedict 3, St. Olaf 0 CSB’s Alexa Rinde went 16-4-27.
• Augsburg 3, Gustavus 0 AC’s Ashley Peper went 15-3-24 with 12 digs.
• Bethel 3, Hamline 1 BU’s Nicole Deberry had 16 kills, 7 blocks.
• Carleton 3, Macalester 1 CC’s Jessa Youso had 20 kills.
• Saint Mary’s 3, Concordia-Moorhead 2 Set 5 ended 17-15; SMU’s Carissa Hahn had 13 kills, 23 digs.

UAA
• #1 Washington-St. Louis 3, Rochester 0 WUSTL’s Marilee Fisher went 7-1-11 with 21 assists.
• #1 Washington-St. Louis 3, Brandeis 0 WUSTL’s Emily Tulloch went 11-1-21 with 4 blocks.
• #14 Chicago 3, Carnegie Mellon 0 UC’s Nikki DelZenero had 35 assists.
• #14 Chicago 3, NYU 1 UC’s Maren Loe had 11 kills, 12 digs.

UMAC
• Northwestern 3, Bethany Lutheran 0 NWC’s Krista Stoltz had 34 assists.
• Northwestern 3, North Central (Minn.) 0 NWC’s Lydia Palkert went 14-1-20.
• St. Scholastica 3, Crown 0 CSS’s Anna Zyvoloski went 12-1-23 with 10 digs.
• Martin Luther 3, North Central (Minn.) 0 MLC outhit NCU .308 to -.167.
• Minnesota Morris 3, Northland 0 UMM outhit NC .348 to -.011.

MWC
• Grinnell 3, Knox 0 GC hit .414.
• Lake Forest 3, Ripon 1 LFC’s Kristen Braun went 13-2-16.

NAC
• Dominican 3, Maranatha 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; DU’s Caitlen Foote had 16 kills, 11 digs; MBBC’s Torey DeLozier had 41 kills.
• Marian 3, Aurora 1 MU’s Anna Smit went 22-4-38.
• Edgewood 3, Concordia Chicago 0 EC hit .442.
• Benedictine 3, Lakeland 0 BU’s Abby Sattler had 36 assists, 15 digs.
• Wisconsin Lutheran 3, Concordia Wisconsin 1 WLC’s Erin Greenfield had 16 kills, 11 digs.
• Rockford 3, Alverno 1 RC’s Nicole Lawler had 13 kills, 14 digs.

SLIAC
• Fontbonne 3, Blackburn 2
• Greenville 3, MacMurray 0
• Greenville 3, Eureka 0
• Westminster 3, Blackburn 0
• Westminster 3, Fontbonne 0
• MacMurray 3, Eureka 1

GPAC
• Nebraska Wesleyan 3, Mount Marty 0

Top 25 upset watch
#5 Christopher Newport 3, Maryville (Tenn.) 1
#5 Christopher Newport 3, Greensboro 0
#6 Emory 3, NYU 0
#6 Emory 3, Carnegie Mellon 0
Chapman 3, #8 Cal Lutheran 1
#8 Cal Lutheran 3, Redlands 0
#9 Cortland 3, FDU-Florham 1
#9 Cortland 3, York 0
#10 Puget Sound 3, Linfield 1
#13 Otterbein 3, Alma 0
#13 Otterbein 3, Albion 1
#16 Mount Union 3, Ohio Northern 1
Pacific (Ore.) 3, #17 Colorado College 2
#18 Pacific Lutheran 3, Willamette 0
#19 Eastern 3, Centenary (N.J.) 0
Stevenson 3, #19 Eastern 2
#20 Salisbury 3, Rivier 0
#20 Salisbury 3, Virginia Wesleyan 2
#21 Juniata 3, Moravian 0
#21 Juniata 3, Susquehanna 2

-Ricky Nelson

Catching up on news, explaining dearth

I have been doing more with results and less with opinion because I think that’s what matters most.

I have watched many matches from all over the D-III map online and in the gym again this year. I certainly have opinions about most teams from the east to west coasts. I figure those opinions matter in the context of the big picture like rankings, so I have been providing commentary on the AVCA polls each week and not much else. And most of that commentary revolves around the top 10.

I doubt anyone cares who I think will win a particular match at this time of year, who my favorite players and teams are, etc. I will provide that element come tournament time like I have in the past. I will also be providing commentary on the regional rankings, but for the time being I’m focusing on day-to-day results.

I think Wartburg, Stevenson and a few others are underrated to different degrees. I think the rubber stamp is in effect for some traditionally solid programs and their falls in the polls have been too modest out of deference. I think there are several great young setters in the Central and Midwest regions. I wonder why some key players from the regions are not on the court this season. I wonder if Wittenberg’s success precipitated many good teams to switch to, or consider strongly, a 6-2 or if teams are just playing to their strengths. In any event it seems like I’m seeing the 6-2 far more this year.

I have opinions and questions. I’m just choosing to provide more scores rather than muck up the posts with my thoughts on a nightly basis.

That means there have been things that I used to do as separate posts. Here are most of those things.

Hamline surpassed its 2011 win total on Sept. 14. UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout surpassed their 2011 win totals the next day. Augustana passed its 2011 win total on Sept. 19; Lakeland on Sept. 21. Other Central and Midwest teams have also either passed 2011 standards this week or on the verge of doing so.

Maranatha senior Torey DeLozier (ever read her name on this blog?) set the NAC career kills record. She has since passed 2,000 kills.

Washington-St. Louis senior Kelly Pang established a new program record for career digs.

Edgewood senior Mallory Palmer surpassed 1,500 career kills.

-Ricky Nelson

Crusaders are 2012’s Last Team Standing

Wellesley (14-1) lost to UMass Boston in five sets tonight. Maranatha Baptist Bible (10-0) swept Concordia Chicago tonight to earn the title of Last Team Standing for 2012.

Maranatha has not dropped a set since losing to Ozark Christian in the 2011 NCCAA semifinals.

-Ricky Nelson

9/28: #11 Elmhurst outlasts #15 Wartburg, 5 other ranked teams fall

A big night around the regions as teams jockey for early regional ranking hierarchies.

UW-Whitewater invite
#11 Elmhurst, #12 UW-Whitewater, #15 Wartburg, Millikin, Cornell, UW Oshkosh
#12 UW-Whitewater def. UW Oshkosh 3-1; Millikin def. UW Oshkosh 3-1; #15 Wartburg def. Cornell 3-2; #12 UW-Whitewater def. Cornell 3-1; #11 Elmhurst def. #15 Wartburg 3-2.

St. Norbert tourney
#21 Carthage, UW-River Falls, St. Norbert, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Superior, Finlandia
St. Norbert def. UW-River Falls 3-0; UW-Eau Claire def. #21 Carthage 3-1; UW-Eau Claire def. UW-River Falls 3-2; St. Norbert def Finlandia 3-0; #21 Carthage def. UW-Superior 3-0; UW-Superior def. Finlandia 3-0.

Dubuque quad
UW-Platteville, UW-Stout, Loras, Dubuque
UW-Platteville def. Dubuque 3-1; UW-Stout def. Dubuque 3-0; UW-Platteville def. Loras 3-0; UW-Stout def. Loras 3-1.

William Woods tri
Westminster (Mo.), William Woods, Central Methodist
Westminster (Mo.) def. Central Methodist 3-1; William Woods def. Westminster (Mo.) 3-1.

MIAC
• #7 St. Thomas 3, Macalester 0 UST’s Kelly Foley went 12-1-14.
• Bethel 3, Gustavus 0 BU’s Cierra Nickel had 41 assists.
• Saint Benedict 3, Saint Mary’s 0 CSB’s Lexi Alm had 11 kills, 11 digs.
• Carleton 3, Hamline 0 CC’s Sarah Nielsen went 14-0-25.

UMAC
• Northwestern 3, Martin Luther 0 NWC’s Krista Stoltz had 32 assists.
• St. Scholastica 3, Minnesota Morris 2 Set 5 ended 15-13; CSS’s Anna Zyvoloski had 26 kills, 23 digs.
• Northland 3, Crown 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; NC’s Gabby Jukkala had 10 kills, 10 digs.
• Bethany Lutheran 3, North Central (Minn.) 0 BLC’s Shelby Wiederhoeft had 14 kills.

MWC
• Ripon 3, Beloit 0 RC’s Emily Gary had 13 kills.

NAC
• Edgewood 3, Dominican 0 EC’s Mallory Palmer went 16-1-37 with 14 digs.
• Benedictine 3, Marian 0 BU’s Molly Kovacich had 11 kills 15 digs.
• Maranatha 3, Concordia Chicago 0 MBBC’s Torey DeLozier had 19 kills, 10 digs.
• MSOE 3, Alverno 1 MSOE’s Stephanie Hasler had 20 kills, 11 digs.
• Aurora 3, Lakeland 1 AU’s Sarah Olesen had 12 kills.
• Concordia Wisconsin 3, Rockford 0 CUW’s Britta Duchow had 11 kills.

Nonconference
• UW-La Crosse 3, Luther 1 UWL’s Leah Putzier and Crystal Ziegler had 10 kills apiece.
• Mount Marty 3, Buena Vista 1 MMC (4-10) is NAIA.
• Mayville State 3, Presentation 0 MSU (18-6) is NAIA.

Top 25 upset watch
Indianapolis 3, #3 Wittenberg 1 UI (13-2) is #9 in D-II.
#9 Cortland 3, Stevenson 2
Grove City 3, #9 Cortland 2
Willamette 3, #10 Puget Sound 2
#13 Otterbein 3, Baldwin Wallace 0
#17 Colorado College 3, Linfield 0
#18 Pacific Lutheran 3, Pacific (Ore.) 0
#19 Eastern 3, Rowan 0
#19 Eastern 3, York 0
Marietta 3, #23 Heidelberg 0

-Ricky Nelson

9/27: Ranked D-III’s lose 5-setters to non-D-III’s

All matches on tonight’s Midwest/Central and upset watch schedule are nonconference. There’s conflicting info on whether Blackburn plays tonight.

We’re also down to two undefeated teams in the entire country. Maranatha, which was idle tonight, is one of them.

Nonconference
• Carroll 3, Rockford 0 CU’s Samantha Derynda had 31 assists, 13 digs.
• Webster 3, Illinois College 0 WU’s Jordan Vehlewald went 9-0-13 with 17 digs.
• Indiana-Southeast 3, Spalding 0 IUS (8-7) is NAIA; SU’s Elisa Burkman had 16 kills.
• Blackburn, Robert Morris-Springfield

Top 25 upset watch
Mount Vernon Nazarene 3, #13 Otterbein 2 MVNU (13-6) is NAIA.
#17 Colorado College 3, George Fox 1
Clarion 3, #21 Juniata 2 CU (14-3) is D-II.

-Ricky Nelson

9/26: UW-La Crosse upsets #12 UW-Whitewater in 5, Illinois Wesleyan knocks off #21 Carthage

Tonight’s update will be late because I’m going to a match at Oshkosh’s renovated field house at 7 central.

Carrier pigeons have not returned with results from the MSOE/Ripon and Finlandia/Gogebic matches as of 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. I’ll get to them tomorrow afternoon. I hope.

St. Thomas tri
#7 St. Thomas, Northwestern, UW-Eau Claire
#7 St. Thomas def. Northwestern 3-0; UW-Eau Claire def. Northwestern 3-1; #7 St. Thomas def. UW-Eau Claire 3-1.

MIAC
• Concordia-Moorhead 3, St. Olaf 2 Set 5 ended 15-5; CCM’s Olivia Wangensteen and Angie Waller both had 18 kills, 20 digs.
• Carleton 3, Gustavus 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; CC’s Jessa Youso went 13-4-26.
• St. Catherine 3, Augsburg 2 Set 5 ended 15-10; SCU’s Stephanie Meschke had 17 kills, 16 digs.

WIAC
• UW-La Crosse 3, #12 UW-Whitewater 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; UWL’s Crystal Ziegler had 13 kills, 22 digs.
• #24 UW-Stevens Point 3, UW Oshkosh 0 UWSP’s Kati Rau, Christina Brinkman had 9 kills apiece.

CCIW
• #11 Elmhurst 3, Augustana 0 EC’s Megan Reynolds went 8-2-15 with 5 blocks.
• Illinois Wesleyan 3, #21 Carthage 1 IWU’s Erin Wachtel had 46 assists.

IIAC
• #15 Wartburg 3, Simpson 0 WC’s Bailey Wilson went 10-0-4 with 4 blocks.
• Loras 3, Luther 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; Loras’s Kara Grant had 14 kills, 13 digs.
• Coe 3, Buena Vista 0 CC’s Rachel Schaefer went 16-4-28.

MWC
• Lake Forest 3, Beloit 0 LFC’s Molly McCloskey had 13 kills, 11 digs.
• Carroll 3, Lawrence 1 CU’s Kelly Sloyan and Katrina Zenz had 14 kills apiece.

GPAC
• Midland 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 0 MU (12-6) is #22 in NAIA.

Nonconference
• #14 Chicago 3, Benedictine 1 UC’s Caroline Brander went 11-1-21.
• Edgewood 3, Dubuque 1 EC’s Mallory Palmer had 20 kills, 12 digs.
• Ripon 3, MSOE 1
• Knox 3, Eureka 1
• Aurora 3, Mount Mary 0 AU’s Sarah Olesen went 10-2-17 with 11 blocks.
• Gogebic CC 3, Finlandia 2

Top 25 upset watch
#2 Calvin 3, Saint Mary’s (Ind.) 0
#4 Hope 3, Trine 0
#19 Eastern 3, FDU-Florham 0
#20 Salisbury 3, Mary Washington 0
#23 Heidelberg 3, Muskingum 1

-Ricky Nelson

9/25: Favorites sweep up wins

Several deep breaths and exaggerated sighs later, and I’m moving past whatever it was that happened to my favorite football team last night.

How about some volleyball? Here’s tonight’s schedule.

Two of the five remaining contenders for Last Team Standing played tonight. Both lost. Which ones? Click the link. Hint: one of them is at the bottom of this post.

The last two finals will be updated sometime tomorrow. Cal Lutheran is still without All-America setter Jackie Russell (broken finger) by the way. She’s been out since the first week of September. CLU has a fight on its hands in the early going tonight against CMS.

CCIW
• North Central (Ill.) 3, Wheaton 1
• Millikin 3, North Park 0 MU’s Audrey Krajec went 13-1-20.

IIAC
• Dubuque 3, Central 2 Set 5 ended 15-9; UD’s Klaudia Basierak had 17 kills.

MWC
• Monmouth 3, Grinnell 0 MC’s Chelsey Widdop had 19 kills, 12 digs.

NAC
• Dominican 3, Alverno 0 DU outhit AC .300 to -.111.
• Benedictine 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0 BU’s Abby Sattler had 35 assists.
• Edgewood 3, Marian 0 EC’s Mallory Palmer went 20-2-41.
• Wisconsin Lutheran 3, Lakeland 0 WLC’s Erin Greenfield had 14 kills.
• Concordia Chicago 3, MSOE 2 Set 5 ended 15-10; CUC’s Bianca Gordon had 15 kills, 9 blocks.

SLIAC
• Webster 3, MacMurray 0
• Principia 3, Blackburn 0 PC’s Tess Rountree went 14-2-28 with 18 digs.
• Greenville 3, Fontbonne 0 GC’s Tricia Gall went 19-2-31.

Nonconference
• Saint Benedict 3, UW-Superior 0 CSB’s Taya Kockelman had 32 assists, 11 digs.
• Ashford 3, UW-Platteville 0 AU (14-7) is NAIA.
• Coe 3, Iowa Wesleyan 0 CC’s Rachel Schaefer went 8-0-9.
• Hamline 3, Bethany Lutheran 0 HU’s Stephanie Kaup went 7-1-10 with 6 blocks.
• Illinois College 3, Westminster (Mo.) 0 IC’s Brittney Burgess had 19 kills, 23 digs.
• Macalester 3, North Central (Minn.) 0 NCU scored 27 points.
• Spalding, Oakland City

Top 25 upset watch
#3 Wittenberg 3, Ohio Wesleyan 0
#5 Christopher Newport 3, Virginia Wesleyan 0
#6 Emory 3, Birmingham-Southern 2
Lee 3, #6 Emory 1
#8 Cal Lutheran 3, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2
Clarkson 3, #9 Cortland 2
#25 Southwestern 3, Howard Payne 0

-Ricky Nelson

AVCA 2012 Week 4 poll: Week 3 redux

Not much movement this week, as expected. My top 10 didn’t change from Week 3. Neither did the AVCA’s. However, Hope somehow managed to keep its one first-place vote from last week. That’s an interesting interpretation by that one voter. Not egregious, but my opinion is that it’s interesting.

The top five are still Washington-St. Louis, Calvin, Wittenberg, Hope and Christopher Newport.

I still disagree with the pollsters’ collective output on the order of Emory and Christopher Newport at the Nos. 5 and 6 spots. Why do I think EU should be ahead? Only because EU beat CNU in five this season on a neutral floor. Seems rational. CNU’s schedule is tougher, but head-to-head has to count for something. I sometimes have similar gripes with the regional rankings, which are coming in about a month.

No. T21 Juniata finally fell outside the top 20 for the first time in AVCA poll history.

Other Central/Midwest teams in the poll: No. 7 St. Thomas; No. 11 Elmhurst; No. 12 UW-Whitewater; No. 14 Chicago; No. 15 Wartburg; No. T21 Carthage; No. 24 UW-Stevens Point.
Receiving votes on multiple ballots: Saint Benedict; Dominican.

-Ricky Nelson

NCAA stats: Maranatha’s DeLozier doing DeLozier-like things

Maranatha outside Torey DeLozier led the nation in kills and points per set last season. Thanks to a fine start, she could repeat in both categories. For good measure DeLozier is also in the top three in aces and hitting percentage. She has quite a few entries on the Standout Stats page once again this season. Maranatha is one of five undefeated teams in the country by the way.

The following are Central and Midwest region players and teams in the top 10 nationally, according to the second set of NCAA stats.

Aces/Set
2. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha 1.26
5. Emily Leazer, Augustana 1.17
8. Augustana 3.38

Assists/Set
9. Krista Stoltz, Northwestern 10.81
10. Marilee Fisher, Washington-St. Louis 10.65
6. Washington-St. Louis 12.51
8. St. Thomas 12.49

Blocks/Set
2. Rachel Hein, Martin Luther 1.56
3. Danielle Remy, St. Norbert 1.52
7. Taylor Dicus, Cornell 1.38
8. Allison Davis, UW-Stevens Point 1.35
3. UW-Stevens Point 2.93
4. St. Norbert 2.78
9. Martin Luther 2.50

Digs/Set
2. Jordan Berry, Westminster (Mo.) 6.97
10. Val Smith, Bethel 6.16
3. Saint Benedict 21.22
6. Carthage 21.04

Hitting Percentage
3. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha .465
4. Laci Peterson, Maranatha .464
7. Kedryn Orrison, North Central (Ill.) .447
9. Nicole Adams, Benedictine .437
1. Maranatha .383
3. St. Thomas .299
7. North Central (Ill.) .272
9. UW-Superior .269

Kills/Set
1. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha 5.93
9. Britlyn Sieck, Wartburg 4.26
1. UW-Superior 14.15
3. Wartburg 14.02
4. Washington-St. Louis 13.84
5. St. Thomas 13.82
10. Maranatha 13.67

Points/Set
1. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha 7.65
8. Anna Zyvoloski, St. Scholastica 4.93
10. Audrey Krajec, Millikin 4.88

Winning Percentage
1. Maranatha 1.000
8. Benedictine .938
10. St. Thomas .933

-Ricky Nelson